Perfect
by AstonSilver
Summary: Growing up feeling less than perfect always bothered Dan. Now that he's moved into a new town, he has a fresh start though.
1. Chapter 1

"Bye, Mom, I'm off to school!" Dan yelled as he ran out the door. He didn't wait for an answer. He knew he wouldn't get one with his father still in the house. It was just a habit.  
Ever since he'd realized just how different Dan was, he'd become a lot colder towards the elder of the boys. Dan admittedly felt bad for Adrian, his younger brother, because that meant he got all the attention and it was a bit of an overload sometimes.  
Still, as Dan made his way to his new hell...school, he couldn't help but wonder if this time he'd be able to open up around someone and actually make friends instead of just pretending to fit in when he had to.  
' _Yeah, probably not._ ' Dan decided when he saw the school. Thankfully, he'd been able to get his schedule and locker number, so now the only problem was actually finding his classes.

Sure enough, he ended up being late to his first class and gave a sheepish smile when he entered in the middle of something the teacher was saying.  
The teacher gave Dan a searching look before he spoke. "You must be Mr. Howell." he said.  
Dan nodded. "Sorry?"  
This got a smile. "It's perfectly fine. It's your first day. Go have a seat in the back and try to follow along."  
Dan didn't argue, taking a seat and keeping his head down, wanting to just sink into the background so people would stop _staring_ at him like he was some sort of alien creature.

He had a few people come up to him and talk to him throughout the day, but he generally kept to himself, not too sure about anyone.  
Of course, lunch was a disaster. He ended up finding an empty table off in a corner so he didn't bug anyone about sitting with them, but halfway through lunch, someone walked up to him. "Mind if I join you?"  
Dan glanced at him before smiling awkwardly and shrugging. "Sure."  
They sat in an awkward silence for a while before the raven-haired boy spoke. "I'm Phil, by the way. I heard talk of a new kid and...well, I know much being new sucks so..."  
Dan stared at him in surprise before he gave a true smile. "I'm Dan." he offered.

Surprisingly enough to him, talking with Phil wasn't as awkward as he thought it would be. They shared a lot of common interests - they both loved Muse, tended to spend a lot of time on video games. And honestly, they were both sort of awkward so they didn't press too much for information when it came down to it.  
Dan couldn't help but think that he wouldn't mind actually being friends with Phil. Even though he knew that he'd somehow find a way to mess something up and he knew it.  
Phil seemed to note where his thoughts were automatically when he fell silent, though, and spoke, surprising Dan. "Hey, would you be interested in coming over and playing Mario Kart for a while one day? Maybe we can learn more about each other."  
Dan smiled faintly. "Sure, I guess. I'll have to ask my mom, but I don't see an issue."  
"Great! We can work out when later?"  
Dan nodded, falling silent again.

Later that evening, when Dan retired to his room for the final time, he lay in his bed thinking. He could hear his parents arguing down the hall and could honestly say he'd rather be anywhere but there at that moment. He laid there for what seemed like forever just listening to everything around him, eventually falling asleep when it all finally fell silent.

 **Hi. So, this was actually first published on my Quotev account, and I figured I'd transfer it here as well because I do enjoy this and I want to share it...even if it's terrible.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi guys! So, I figured I'd go ahead and post another chapter on this...But first, I'd like to say something here.**

 **Thanks for any of you who've read any of my stories for the Phan community. I've never wrote anything with any sort of romance to it, but I wanted to give it a shot so...yeah. On a side note, I apologize for any...OOC-ness to any of these. My best friend (who role plays as Dan on Quotev) pointed out after reading one of them that it was "us" and I guess in a way it did fit because we do act like them when we talk to each other...sort of. It's weird, but yeah. If it's out of character, that's why. Because it's really natural for me to write and...yeah. She knows where I'm going with this and is very supportive of my writing, so I owe her a million plus thank yous for it.  
**

 **Anyway, that's a long enough rant.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

The rest of the week went by slowly for Dan as he adjusted to the new school. He sort of hated it, because he was always unsure of what he was supposed to be doing in a situation where it was all brand new to him like this.

Thankfully, he had Phil there to help out a bit, which took a lot of pressure off Dan to do everything perfectly.

Through his first month, the two of them hung out a lot, Phil introducing him to his friends and helping him if he needed it, even if he didn't ask. It was so strange to Dan. He'd never known people to do that for others.

However, the situation at home didn't get better through this time. Dan found himself spending more time holed up in his room skyping Phil or playing games just for something else to focus on, and quite honestly, it was worrying him how things were changing for the worst at home just as things were beginning to get to where they were okay at school.

And unfortunately for him, his parents had no qualms about waking his brother and him up late in the night fighting when they had school the next day. It got to the point where his brother generally stayed at a friend's house if things seemed bad at dinner, and Dan was glad. Even though they didn't spend much time together, he didn't want his brother's grades to suffer due to their parents fighting.

However, Dan never left. Sometimes, when he'd get woke up around three to them fighting, he'd just give up on sleep and get up and begin slowly getting ready for the school day, crashing sometime around lunch from pure exhaustion.

It didn't escape anyone's notice, either. It wasn't Phil who brought it up, which Dan was thankful for. He still remained blissfully oblivious on how bad their fights were.

It was PJ, one of the calmest out of the friends he'd made since being in a new school. "Seriously, what's going on? You look dead on your feet at least twice a week coming in."

Dan shook his head. "Problems sleeping," he said. It wasn't a lie. It just wasn't the entire truth.

"Right.." PJ said doubtfully, looking at Chris and Phil before he spoke. "We're still coming over for games today, right?"

Dan nodded quickly.

Of course, when they walked through the door, Dan's brother was already there. He gave Dan a knowing look, making the elder sigh. "Get going,"

Once he saw his brother take off with his book bag stuffed full, Dan led them to his room.

"What was that about?" Phil asked.

Dan shrugged. "School project, he's staying over with the person he's working with," he lied easily.

They all settled down pretty easily after that, content to focus on their games.

No one else noticed, but Dan could hear his parents whisper fighting down the hall due to how trained he was at hearing them fight. He didn't worry about it until he heard his father raise his voice.

"I don't know why you think it's so okay for them to act like this!"

Dan cursed mentally as his friends looked at him in concern.

They sat there for a while, just listening to the fight before Dan got sick of hearing it and got up, going to open his door. "Could you both just shut up? My bad for not being your fucking perfect son, but if you haven't noticed, your youngest spends most of his nights with someone else because you never shut up!" he yelled.

Silence fell and Dan returned to his place in his room.

Phil sighed. "Is this what's going on when we're skyping?"

"Usually.." Dan admitted with a shrug.

They continued their routine, no one ever saying anything about what they saw or heard, but Dan couldn't help but notice that they offered to let him stay with them more often, and made sure he always felt calm around them. He'd never say it out loud, but he was glad that they were doing this for him. It made him feel accepted, which he was extremely thankful for.

No one ever mentioned that they'd heard Dan apologize for not being perfect, never questioned what he'd meant or why they fought like they did.

It just didn't matter, because they all knew that no matter what the case was, it wouldn't affect anything. They wouldn't let it.

* * *

 **This was harder than I thought it was going to be to write. I keep getting distracted and losing where I was going and having to restart. Sorry.**

 **On a side note, I'm looking for songs and prompts and stuff for little drabbles for the Phandom. So if you want a one or two shot made, just tell me.**

 **It'll give me something to write to break my writers block, at least.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi guys! No, this isn't an update to anything. I'm just here to inform you that due to personal reasons, I am moving the stories I plan on continuing, or that I really like to a new account here - AllthePheelsLove. I just think it's time to start fresh.**

 **Thanks for your support! Love you guys! If you have a certain story of mine you'd like for me to save and transfer, please let me know!**


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